Proverbs 21:15

21:15 Doing ¹  justice brings ²  joy to the righteous

and terror ³  to those who do evil.

Job 31:3

31:3 Is it not misfortune for the unjust,

and disaster for those who work iniquity?

Psalms 1:6

1:6 Certainly ⁴  the Lord guards the way of the godly, ⁵ 

but the way of the wicked ends in destruction. ⁶ 

Psalms 36:12

36:12 I can see the evildoers! They have fallen! ⁷ 

They have been knocked down and are unable to get up! ⁸ 

Psalms 37:20

37:20 But ⁹  evil men will die;

the Lord’s enemies will be incinerated ¹⁰  –

they will go up in smoke. ¹¹ 

Psalms 92:7

92:7 When the wicked sprout up like grass,

and all the evildoers glisten, ¹² 

it is so that they may be annihilated. ¹³ 

Matthew 7:22-23

7:22 On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do ¹⁴  many powerful deeds?’ 7:23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’ ¹⁵ 

Luke 13:26-27

13:26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ ¹⁶  13:27 But ¹⁷  he will reply, ¹⁸  ‘I don’t know where you come from! ¹⁹  Go away from me, all you evildoers!’ ²⁰ 

Romans 2:8-9

2:8 but ²¹  wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition ²²  and do not obey the truth but follow ²³  unrighteousness. 2:9 There will be ²⁴  affliction and distress on everyone ²⁵  who does evil, on the Jew first and also the Greek, ²⁶ 

[21:15]  ¹ tn The Qal infinitive construct עֲשׂוֹת (’asot) functions as the subject of the sentence.

[21:15]  ² tn The term “brings” is supplied in the translation; many English versions supply a simple copula (“is”).

[21:15]  ³ sn The noun means “terror (NAB, NASB, NIV), destruction (KJV, ASV), ruin (cf. NCV).” Its related verb means “be shattered, dismayed.” The idea of “dismay” (NRSV) or “terror” would make the better choice to contrast with “joy” in the first line, but “ruin” is also possible. Whenever justice prevails, whether in the courts or simply in society, the people who practice iniquity may be shaken into reality by fear (cf. CEV “crooks are terrified”).

[1:6]  ⁴ tn The translation understands כי as asseverative. Another option is to translate “for,” understanding v. 6 as a theological explanation for vv. 3-5, which contrasts the respective destinies of the godly and the wicked.

[1:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “the Lord knows the way of the righteous.” To “know a way” means, in its most basic sense, “to recognize/acknowledge a pathway, route, or prescribed way of life” (see Josh 3:4; Job 21:14; Ps 67:2; Isa 42:16; Jer 5:4-5). Here it could refer to the Lord recognizing the behavior of the godly and, by metonymy, rewarding their godliness with security and prosperity (resulting in the translation, “the Lord rewards the behavior of the godly”). The present translation takes the verb in the sense of “mark out” (cf. Job 23:10), which metonymically could mean “watch over, protect, guard.” In this case the “way of the godly” is not their behavior, but their course of life or destiny; a translation reflecting this would be “the Lord protects the lives of the godly” or “the Lord watches over the destiny of the godly” (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). The Hebrew active participle יוֹדֵעַ (yodea’, “knows”) has here a characteristic durative force.

[1:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “but the way of the wicked perishes.” The “way of the wicked” may refer to their course of life (Ps 146:9; Prov 4:19; Jer 12:1) or their sinful behavior (Prov 12:26; 15:9). The Hebrew imperfect verbal form probably describes here what typically happens, though one could take the form as indicating what will happen (“will perish”).

[36:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “there the workers of wickedness have fallen.” The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is used here for dramatic effect, as the psalmist envisions the evildoers lying fallen at a spot that is vivid in his imagination (BDB 1027 s.v.).

[36:12]  ⁸ tn The psalmist uses perfect verbal forms in v. 12 to describe the demise of the wicked as if it has already taken place.

[37:20]  ⁹ tn Or “for,” but Hebrew כי in this case would have to extend all the way back to v. 17a. Another option is to understand the particle as asseverative, “surely” (see v. 22).

[37:20]  ¹⁰ tc The meaning of the MT (כִּיקַר כָּרִים [kiqar karim], “like what is precious among the pastures/rams”) is uncertain. One possibility is to take the noun כָּרִים as “pastures” and interpret “what is precious” as referring to flowers that blossom but then quickly disappear (see v. 2 and BDB 430 s.v. יָקָר 3). If כָּרִים is taken as “rams,” then “what is precious” might refer to the choicest portions of rams. The present translation follows a reading in the Dead Sea Scrolls (4QpPs37), כיקוד כורם (“like the burning of an oven”). The next line, which pictures the Lord’s enemies being consumed in smoke, supports this reading, which assumes confusion of the Hebrew letters resh (ר) and dalet (ד) at the end of the first word in the sequence.

[37:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they perish in smoke, they perish.” In addition to repeating the verb for emphasis, the psalmist uses the perfect form of the verb to picture the enemies’ demise as if it had already taken place. In this way he draws attention to the certitude of their judgment.

[92:7]  ¹² tn Or “flourish.”

[92:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “in order that they might be destroyed permanently.”

[7:22]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “and in your name do.” This phrase was not repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:23]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “workers of lawlessness.”

[13:26]  ¹⁶ sn This term refers to wide streets, and thus suggests the major streets of a city.

[13:27]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[13:27]  ¹⁸ tc Most mss (Ì^75* A D L W Θ Ψ 070 Ë^1,13 Ï) have ἐρεῖ λέγω ὑμῖν (erei legw Jumin; “he will say, ‘I say to you’”) here, while some have only ἐρεῖ ὑμῖν (“he will say to you” in א 579 pc lat sa) or simply ἐρεῖ (“he will say” in 1195 pc). The variety of readings seems to have arisen from the somewhat unusual wording of the original, ἐρεῖ λέγων ὑμῖν (erei legwn Jumin; “he will say, saying to you” found in Ì^75c B 892 pc). Given the indicative λέγω, it is difficult to explain how the other readings would have arisen. But if the participle λέγων were original, the other readings can more easily be explained as arising from it. Although the external evidence is significantly stronger in support of the indicative reading, the internal evidence is on the side of the participle.

[13:27]  ¹⁹ sn The issue is not familiarity (with Jesus’ teaching) or even shared activity (eating and drinking with him), but knowing Jesus. Those who do not know him, he will not know where they come from (i.e., will not acknowledge) at the judgment.

[13:27]  ²⁰ tn Grk “all you workers of iniquity.” The phrase resembles Ps 6:8.

[2:8]  ²¹ tn This contrast is clearer and stronger in Greek than can be easily expressed in English.

[2:8]  ²² tn Grk “those who [are] from selfish ambition.”

[2:8]  ²³ tn Grk “are persuaded by, obey.”

[2:9]  ²⁴ tn No verb is expressed in this verse, but the verb “to be” is implied by the Greek construction. Literally “suffering and distress on everyone…”

[2:9]  ²⁵ tn Grk “every soul of man.”

[2:9]  ²⁶ sn Paul uses the term Greek here and in v. 10 to refer to non-Jews, i.e., Gentiles.